diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f667ab162
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+.venv
+__pycache__
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+*.pyd
+*.so
+.git
+.gitignore
+htmlcov*
+.coverage
+coverage*
+.cache
+.mypy_cache
+.pytest_cache
+.ruff_cache
+uv.lock
+node_modules
+build
+/tmp
diff --git a/.github/workflows/install-script-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/install-script-ci.yml
index a37919f56..82aa56482 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/install-script-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/install-script-ci.yml
@@ -30,8 +30,11 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Build a single provider
         run: |
-          USE_COPY_NOT_MOUNT=true LLAMA_STACK_DIR=. uv run --no-sync \
-            llama stack build --template starter --image-type container --image-name test
+          docker build . \
+            -f containers/Containerfile \
+            --build-arg INSTALL_MODE=editable \
+            --build-arg DISTRO_NAME=starter \
+            --tag llama-stack:starter-ci
 
       - name: Run installer end-to-end
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/providers-build.yml b/.github/workflows/providers-build.yml
index 53b6edccf..76f9e159a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/providers-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/providers-build.yml
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ on:
       - '.github/workflows/providers-build.yml'
       - 'llama_stack/distributions/**'
       - 'pyproject.toml'
+      - 'containers/Containerfile'
+      - '.dockerignore'
 
   pull_request:
     paths:
@@ -24,6 +26,8 @@ on:
       - '.github/workflows/providers-build.yml'
       - 'llama_stack/distributions/**'
       - 'pyproject.toml'
+      - 'containers/Containerfile'
+      - '.dockerignore'
 
 concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.run_id || github.ref }}
@@ -60,15 +64,25 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install dependencies
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
-      - name: Print build dependencies
+      - name: List build dependencies
         run: |
-          uv run llama stack build --distro ${{ matrix.distro }} --image-type ${{ matrix.image-type }} --image-name test --print-deps-only
+          uv run llama stack list-deps ${{ matrix.distro }} | tee deps.txt
 
-      - name: Run Llama Stack Build
+      - name: Install distribution into venv
+        if: matrix.image-type == 'venv'
         run: |
-          # USE_COPY_NOT_MOUNT is set to true since mounting is not supported by docker buildx, we use COPY instead
-          # LLAMA_STACK_DIR is set to the current directory so we are building from the source
-          USE_COPY_NOT_MOUNT=true LLAMA_STACK_DIR=. uv run llama stack build --distro ${{ matrix.distro }} --image-type ${{ matrix.image-type }} --image-name test
+          if [ -s deps.txt ]; then
+            xargs -L1 uv pip install < deps.txt
+          fi
+
+      - name: Build container image
+        if: matrix.image-type == 'container'
+        run: |
+          docker build . \
+            -f containers/Containerfile \
+            --build-arg INSTALL_MODE=editable \
+            --build-arg DISTRO_NAME=${{ matrix.distro }} \
+            --tag llama-stack:${{ matrix.distro }}-ci
 
       - name: Print dependencies in the image
         if: matrix.image-type == 'venv'
@@ -86,7 +100,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Build a single provider
         run: |
-          USE_COPY_NOT_MOUNT=true LLAMA_STACK_DIR=. uv run llama stack build --image-type venv --image-name test --providers inference=remote::ollama
+          LLAMA_STACK_DIR=. uv run llama stack build --image-type venv --image-name test --providers inference=remote::ollama
 
   build-custom-container-distribution:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
@@ -97,11 +111,16 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install dependencies
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-runner
 
-      - name: Build a single provider
+      - name: Build container image
         run: |
-          yq -i '.image_type = "container"' llama_stack/distributions/ci-tests/build.yaml
-          yq -i '.image_name = "test"' llama_stack/distributions/ci-tests/build.yaml
-          USE_COPY_NOT_MOUNT=true LLAMA_STACK_DIR=. uv run llama stack build --config llama_stack/distributions/ci-tests/build.yaml
+          BASE_IMAGE=$(yq -r '.distribution_spec.container_image // "python:3.12-slim"' llama_stack/distributions/ci-tests/build.yaml)
+          docker build . \
+            -f containers/Containerfile \
+            --build-arg INSTALL_MODE=editable \
+            --build-arg DISTRO_NAME=ci-tests \
+            --build-arg BASE_IMAGE="$BASE_IMAGE" \
+            --build-arg RUN_CONFIG_PATH=/workspace/llama_stack/distributions/ci-tests/run.yaml \
+            -t llama-stack:ci-tests
 
       - name: Inspect the container image entrypoint
         run: |
@@ -112,7 +131,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
           entrypoint=$(docker inspect --format '{{ .Config.Entrypoint }}' $IMAGE_ID)
           echo "Entrypoint: $entrypoint"
-          if [ "$entrypoint" != "[llama stack run /app/run.yaml]" ]; then
+          if [ "$entrypoint" != "[/usr/local/bin/llama-stack-entrypoint.sh]" ]; then
             echo "Entrypoint is not correct"
             exit 1
           fi
@@ -129,17 +148,19 @@ jobs:
       - name: Pin distribution to UBI9 base
         run: |
           yq -i '
-            .image_type    = "container" |
-            .image_name    = "ubi9-test" |
             .distribution_spec.container_image = "registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9:latest"
           ' llama_stack/distributions/ci-tests/build.yaml
 
-      - name: Build dev container (UBI9)
-        env:
-          USE_COPY_NOT_MOUNT: "true"
-          LLAMA_STACK_DIR: "."
+      - name: Build UBI9 container image
         run: |
-          uv run llama stack build --config llama_stack/distributions/ci-tests/build.yaml
+          BASE_IMAGE=$(yq -r '.distribution_spec.container_image // "registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9:latest"' llama_stack/distributions/ci-tests/build.yaml)
+          docker build . \
+            -f containers/Containerfile \
+            --build-arg INSTALL_MODE=editable \
+            --build-arg DISTRO_NAME=ci-tests \
+            --build-arg BASE_IMAGE="$BASE_IMAGE" \
+            --build-arg RUN_CONFIG_PATH=/workspace/llama_stack/distributions/ci-tests/run.yaml \
+            -t llama-stack:ci-tests-ubi9
 
       - name: Inspect UBI9 image
         run: |
@@ -150,7 +171,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
           entrypoint=$(docker inspect --format '{{ .Config.Entrypoint }}' $IMAGE_ID)
           echo "Entrypoint: $entrypoint"
-          if [ "$entrypoint" != "[llama stack run /app/run.yaml]" ]; then
+          if [ "$entrypoint" != "[/usr/local/bin/llama-stack-entrypoint.sh]" ]; then
             echo "Entrypoint is not correct"
             exit 1
           fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-external-provider-module.yml b/.github/workflows/test-external-provider-module.yml
index b43cefb27..8421b78d3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-external-provider-module.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-external-provider-module.yml
@@ -48,7 +48,12 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Build distro from config file
         run: |
-          USE_COPY_NOT_MOUNT=true LLAMA_STACK_DIR=. uv run llama stack build --config tests/external/ramalama-stack/build.yaml
+          docker build . \
+            -f containers/Containerfile \
+            --build-arg INSTALL_MODE=editable \
+            --build-arg DISTRO_NAME=ramalama-stack \
+            --build-arg RUN_CONFIG_PATH=/workspace/tests/external/ramalama-stack/run.yaml \
+            --tag llama-stack:ramalama-stack
 
       - name: Start Llama Stack server in background
         if: ${{ matrix.image-type }} == 'venv'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-external.yml b/.github/workflows/test-external.yml
index a1013ad9e..3ae6793ea 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-external.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-external.yml
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Print distro dependencies
         run: |
-          USE_COPY_NOT_MOUNT=true LLAMA_STACK_DIR=. uv run --no-sync llama stack list-deps tests/external/build.yaml
+          uv run --no-sync llama stack list-deps tests/external/build.yaml
 
       - name: Build distro from config file
         run: |